Sarah Blasko at Homebake 2007, Photograph by Dean Lewins (AAP Image)
Sarah Blasko will release her seventh album, I Just Need To Conquer This Mountain, on Friday 1 November, more than six years after her previous LP. The album’s lead single, “The Way,” is out now – watch the Wilk and Spod-helmed music video below.
“The Way” is the album’s opening track and a primer for the biblical imagery contained therein. Blasko was raised in a strict Christian household, but cut ties with the church – and the Christian God – at the age of 17.
“I had been feeling like turning my back on God may have contributed to misfortunes in my life,” Blasko said in a statement.
When she began work on I Just Need To Conquer This Mountain, Blasko was grappling with multiple overlapping misfortunes.
“[I was] looking back upon the death of my mother, a failed marriage and then a failed friendship during a time that felt like the apocalypse,” she said, referring to the Covid pandemic. “Makes sense considering I was raised to believe in the apocalypse when I was a teenager.”
Blasko co-wrote “The Way” with musician Bec Sandridge, who also had a Christian upbringing. “She kept singing, ‘Get me to church,’ and I loved it,” Blasko said. “I eventually pulled the song out and finished it off.”
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Blasko’s career began with three consecutive ARIA-platinum albums: 2004’s The Overture & the Underscore, 2006’s What the Sea Wants, the Sea Will Have and 2009’s As Day Follows Night. The latter won the J Award for Australian Album of the Year and landed Blasko the ARIA Award for Best Female Artist.
What the Sea Wants won the ARIA for Best Pop Release in 2007, while Blasko’s fifth LP, 2015’s Eternal Return, won the ARIA for Best Adult Alternative Album. Her most recent LP, 2018’s Depth of Field, peaked at #5 on the ARIA albums chart.
Earlier this year, Blasko supported Boy & Bear on their Harlequin Dream tenth anniversary tour, playing at venues like Forum Melbourne and Sydney’s State Theatre. Stay tuned for news of a headline tour behind I Just Need to Conquer This Mountain.
Sarah Blasko - "The Way"
Sarah Blasko: I Just Need To Conquer This Mountain
Out Friday 1 November
Pre-save/pre-order here
